I finally bought an Oculus Touch setup and have updated Aerie to work with it. You can also now adjust which direction you face after teleporting, by where you press the Thumbstick (for Oculus Touch) or Touchpad (for Vive Wand).

While I was at it, I also updated the TV's playback component to hopefully be more compatible with those few systems it hasn't worked on. (In case you missed it, you can drop your own video files into the "..\VROOM - Aerie\TV\" folder and watch them on the TV!)

Ok, I know that ‘Wherefore’ does not mean "where", but couldn't resist the title.

Some folks were having problems with playback of the included OGV videos, so I've converted them to AVIs. (The server-streamed videos were converted as well.)

I'm aware of the delay before streamed-video playback begins, and will hopefully have a solution in a future release.

Just a small update that adds a light-switch to enable watching videos in the dark, plus a couple of small bug-fixes.

Last night I sat down on the couch in Aerie and watched some of my favorite shows, while also sitting on my real couch, and I have to say: the experience with the current state of VR headsets is almost as good as the real thing! By that I mean, I own a fairly nice TV and sound system, and watching TV in Aerie on the Vive/Rift is finally on-par with watching in the real world. (Lighter, higher-resolution headsets will make it even better!)

Here's the change-log:

-v1.01

• Added a lightswitch by the aquarium, so you can watch TV in the dark. (Activate the alarm clock to make it night!)
  
• Fixed an issue where Helicopter input would "throb" on some systems.
  
• Added a slight haptic pulse when helicopter collective is up or down, making it easier to maintain altitude.
  
• You can now teleport into the elevator.
  
• It's easier to click on the dancer to make her stop dancing now.
  
• Aquarium glass is now clickable.
  
• Fixed a couple of lights that had gone missing.

Here's another major update including HTC Vive support. Experience the magic like never before!

Another notable feature: full online-streaming video support for the TV set, with new on-screen controls. Unwind after work on the white (or purple, or red, or brown) couch with a favorite TV show! (Just copy files to the \TV\ folder or create a text file with a URL in it to watch online. See ReadMe.txt for details.)


Here's the full changelog:
-v1.00

• Now supports HTC Vive, with teleport and interactive "phaser" beams.
  
• Added controls to the TV including the ability to timeline-skip in videos.
  
• Much improved Sopwith Camel with an actual cockpit!
  
• Changed Oculus Rift interaction indicator to a white dot to be consistent with other experiences.
  
• TV can now play local as well as online streaming videos! (Several online video links included.)
  
• Improved helicopter modelling: joystick, pedals, collective, and some panel detailing.
  
• Helicopter flight is smoother and more stable.
  
• Mermaid statue now has a new effect!
  
• Cups have a different interaction, and there are 4 of them.
  
• Reduced installation footprint by 62MB.
  
• Wall pictures now animate more smoothly and consume less CPU.
  
• Increased aquarium size.
  
• Adjusted quality options 5 and 6 to be better looking (and more demanding).
  
• Improved several textures.
  
• Footstools are no longer collideable, making getting-up to change the channel easier.

With gratitude for your feedback, I've added further improvements to make Aerie an even better experience! ːsteamhappyː

Here's an all-new version full of bug-fixes and polishing, v0.99:

- Controller used on introduction screen is now the active controller. (Fixes issue with interfering controllers like pedals and steering-wheels.)
- Rotation snapping is now enabled by default in VR mode. Press F3 to toggle it.
- Implemented better "waves" of attack aliens that get progressively more difficult.
- Added moving joystick and pedals to helicopter, and cleaned-up some bad cockpit vertices.
- Improved car mesh that scales LOD with distance.
- Monster now has eyeballs that follow you, and is better synched.
- Improved shark animations.
- Better font for text messages.
- Improved glass textures and reflections.
- Fixed a few of lightmap glitches and adjusted lighting a bit.
- Smoothed player movement.
- Now works better without a Rift.
- Improved Sopwith Camel flying and car driving. (Still arcade-style though, which is intended.)
- Slowed player movement rate some by popular request.
- Left trigger now halves player movement rate, right doubles it.
- Upgraded to Oculus Runtime 1.3.2.
- Corrected Xbox controller displayed in intro.
- Fixed a scaling issue when sitting on Sofa.
- Helicopter and Sopwith Camel glass are now visible from inside cockpit.
- Drinking from a cup while seated now makes you stand before adjusting height.
- Fixed reflections on balcony barrier glass.
- Remodeled exterior planters.
- Added sounds to picture activations.
- Gave potted-flower on dining table a simple interaction.

I should receive my Vive tomorrow, so I'll be busy working hard to take advantage of its room-scale features.

I'm excited to announce that VROOM: Aerie is now improved for use with Oculus Rift CV1! The increased resolution & framerate of CV1 made it necessary to improve every detail!

I plan to add HTC Vive support soon, but am still awaiting delivery.

v0.98 Changes:
- Updated for use with the consumer version of the Oculus Rift and runtime v1.3.
- Upgraded to a newer version of Unity (v5.4.b14) with improved interior lighting.
- Added intro screen with music and controller information.
- Added some new interactions: bowls, oven, books, and microwave.
- Added some tasty dust motes. (They're so hot right now.)
- Much-improved shark tank.
- Improved textures on most objects.
- Sink bubbles are now 3D objects and pop when they collide. :)
- Fixed linear lighting causing videos to be too bright.
- Player transitions now default to fade in/out to reduce motion sickness. (You can revert this by pressing F1.)
- Turning your head now turns your body. (Press F2 to decouple them.)
- Selected graphics quality and game settings are now persisted between launches.
- Added text message support for things like changed graphics quality settings.
- Switched to deferred rendering mode to address incorrect reflection parallax.
- Fixed some deformation of dancer's leg and reduced her polygon count.
- Alarm clock now toggles lightmaps once again.
- Added alien invasion "mini-game" while in flying vehicles.
- Improved helicopter controls.
- Vehicles reset position upon exit.

Here's a new version that is compatible with Oculus v0.7!

Updates include:
- Updated to work with Oculus v0.7.0.0-beta runtime.
- Added smoother playback of local video files using popular codecs and containers.
- Improved movement and jumping.
- Fixed an issue where shrinking while seated could make you fall through the floor.
- Made wall painting video stop after 10 seconds to preserve framerate.

Known issues:
- Please ensure you have the latest graphics drivers for your video card! Nvidia users can find them here[developer.nvidia.com]. The Oculus 0.7 drivers are still fairly "beta" (prone to crashing) and Unity support for them is still new.
- Reflections on surfaces appear flat: this is a Unity bug with no current work-around.

Friday's release of Oculus' v0.7 runtime is incompatible with the vast majority of existing Oculus DK2 titles, as well as VROOM: Aerie. You may want to hold off a bit before upgrading.

I'm almost done building a new version that is compatible, but am waiting on Unity to release a patch that fully supports the new Oculus driver functionality. (Currently, Unity performance with Oculus v0.7 is sluggish and buggy.)

It shouldn't be a long wait; just a few days?

Meantime, I've found a way to do much smoother/faster video playback using virtually any available codec/format. 1080p MKVs now play nicely at 75 FPS, and resuming where you left off is now possible. The downside is that it only works with local content, so there's no more network streaming. Unless there are objections, I'll be switching to this method, as it makes watching full-length movies and TV shows a lot more enjoyable. I look forward to releasing it with the next version.